OK, I KNOW it's been forever, but I gotta say that it's not entirely my fault. Ahem clearing throat you see, I haven't been able to get ON at ALL on my computer. Because of that, I haven't exactly been feeling like writing at all, because who's gonna read it? Then I remembered by website and thought some of you might go on there to check for updates… So I prematurely posted that I'd put a chapter up by the end of LAST week… Bad, bad, Psychic King. Well, at least I have a chapter now. Do me a favor, and if you read this, let me know by either heading towards my Contact Me page or sending me an e-mail. (feel free to throw either praise or complaints at me, I know I deserve some for neglecting my story…) Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the chapter (at least those of you that can read it on this site). I'm gonna try to get the chapter on by using someone else's computer soon, but until then, this is the best I can do…

EDIT Well, no sooner did I start to whine than am I suddenly allowed on again! Hurray for me! Or something like that. Anyway, you can check my site for earlier updates of the chapters in the future, but for now, YAY! You can read this on I don't have to loose all my readers!

Exodus

Chapter 10

Naruto sat in their new 'cabin', relaxing. His children and traveling companions had pretty much immediately fallen asleep after watching the ship leave port. Uzu and Naruto'd enjoyed it far more than the others. Uzu had enjoyed it so much that he'd actually played with Moab, gently dangling the baby over the edge of the ship. Naruto thought about that for a moment. Maybe that hadn't been playing… Naruto shrugged, at least he didn't drop the baby over the edge.

Besides the two of them, Gaara didn't strike Naruto as the kind of person to visibly enjoy ANYHTING and Tenmar was too busy avoiding the sailor that had shown them to the ship, Fetch, to enjoy watching Port Town disappear. Rin was still a little disoriented, although it was obvious that they farther they moved from port the better he felt, and Ganten was far too concerned for Rin to take much notice of the disappearing land that was their home.

With a stab of pain when he once again realized that he was leaving a land that had been home for as long as he'd been alive. Unbidden a pair of angry eyes, glaring at him from a distance flashed into his mind. Sasuke hadn't been happy with Naruto's departure. Rolling over to his side on a large pile of blankets Naruto wondered if Sasuke would forgive him by the time he returned. /Or maybe he'll forget about me./ The thought caused a long pile of other thoughts to flood through his mind. Most involved Sasuke, but some involved the welfare of Konoha and those he left behind. /Maybe leaving was the wrong decision./ His eyes caught on Mina. /NO! I have to remember what we left for. Mina… Moab… And I wonder how Aki's doing. And Tagen… And his children. And Sasuke's too young to be bound to me just yet. I'm not a cradle robber…/

Naruto sat up, giving up on trying to relax and sleep. He'd managed to rest during the travels because of how hard he'd pushed himself, but now that they were on the boat he worried that he'd be left too long with only his thoughts to entertain him. Being stuck somewhere with no action forced him to do what he was worst at; contemplate. There was a lot he could contemplate, too. He'd lived more than one lifetime by this point, and, although he resented the title 'Fox Demon', he'd been far from a saint. It didn't help that present matters were not encouraging.

With a sigh Naruto pushed himself to his feet, moving soundlessly towards the door. Maybe there was something to do up on deck. At the very least, he suspected that the night air would help him clear his mind. He allowed the door to click behind him quietly, jogging towards the stairs. He didn't notice a pair of pale blue eyes watching him quietly from the shadows. After a moment, Gaara followed Naruto's suit, pushing himself up to his feet and stepping quietly out of the room.

:BREAK:

Naruto was happy to find that his suspicions had been right; there were enough things happening on deck to keep him entertained. For now. He sat for a moment, watching a man with a lantern on a long thin pole climb up some rope running along side the sails. There was another man sitting comfortably in the crow's nest, eyes barely open as he took a long drag on a cigarette. There was at least one sailor posted at every side of the ship, each equipped with a sword, a lantern and a horn. Naruto stared at the lantern quizzically.

"It's for warnings. In case we get attacked by pirates." A low voice said, a little too close to his ear for comfort's sake. "Couldn't sleep?"

Naruto turned to find himself face to face with Fetch. After taking a step away from the man he shook his head. "No."

Fetch's eyes measured him up from head to toe. "I wouldn't have pegged you for the type to get sea sick-"

"That's NOT the problem." Naruto replied quickly, as if the indication that he could get sick was a slight against his manliness.

"Old demons haunting your memories?" Fetch asked quietly, eyes a little too intense for the question to have been asked in simple curiosity.

Naruto shook his head, letting out a slight laugh at the man's choice in wording. "Something like that."

"You guys in trouble?" Fetch asked.

Naruto glanced at him in surprise. "What-"

"I'm not askin' too be nosey. I just…" He sighed, looking away from Naruto. When he glanced back a moment later, his eyes shone with earnestly. "The only time I seen a tight-knit group like yours that wasn't family was when they were runnin' from something."

"It's nothing that's gonna cause trouble on the ship, if that's what you're worried about. We don't leave our enemies down to come back for us." After a moment Naruto added, "And who said we're not family?"

Fetch dug through his pockets, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and pulling one out for himself. He offered Naruto one, which was declined, before putting them away. "Tenmar… Doesn't treat you like a brother. Unless…?" He left his sentence hanging, question lingering in the air.

"Unless what?" Naruto responded wearily, not quite getting what the sailor was attempting to hint at.

"Are he and you together?"

"Well, YEAH. Obviously, we're ALL together, otherwise WHY would we share a cab-"Naruto's eyebrows shot up his forehead as he finally caught onto the look in Fetch's eyes. Confusion and surprise battled across his tan face before it finally settled on a look of disgust. He hadn't even thought about the idea that people would think he was paired up with one of his companions, especially not one of his own children. "Me and Tenmar-? Is THAT how we look?"

Fetch nodded, body relaxing a bit. Naruto's response was telling enough for him to know he'd misunderstood. "A bit. I seen a lot of people in an' out of this old ship over the years, I like to think I figured something out about group dynamics." He took a long drag of his cigarette before continuing on. "For instance, we got this guy in here, traveling with two young servant boys and a little girl. This guy's obviously loaded, I mean, he took the most expensive cabin, traveling with servants, an' he didn't have a lot of luggage, I hear. I didn't see 'em board, but I ran into him and the little girl as we were pushing off, an' let me tell you, there's something strange goin' on there."

"Yeah?" Naruto responded, curiosity roused. "Like what?"

"Well, fer one, I'd bet the Tempest herself if that girl isn't really his daughter. Somethin' unnatural about the way they act together."

"Like she'd been kidnapped?" Naruto asked, getting more curious as the story continued.

"That was my first thought, but then, she don't exactly act like she's scared a 'im." Fetch took another long drag of his cigarette, obviously enjoying having an enraptured audience, even if it was only of one. "It seemed more like…" He shook his head, "I donno, can't put my finger on it exactly. Then, while I was talkin' to 'em, one of the boy's came up, short spiky haired kid, had the kind of look in his eye that tells ya he's lazy. Now why would a rich bastard like THAT need to hire a lazy-ass servant? An' the boy was young, and from what I hear the bodyguard is 'bout the same age."

"Hum…" Naruto looked over the sea, mind racing over what he'd just been told. The mystery Fetch had laid before him was effectively taking his mind off his homesickness. "Why would a rich guy need to have a bodyguard that's so young and inexperienced?"

"Exactly." Fetch took a final drag of his cigarette before flicking it into the sea. He watched as the ocean swallowed it for a moment before continuing. "First thing that crossed my mind was that he was smugglin' the boy's off the continent. Commin' in the morning we gotta stop over at the last island associated with this continent, we call it Point, an' we gotta produce papers for each an' every one of our passengers. Most of 'em are refugees coming back Brusselshire now that ol' King Clark's dead, but some of 'em are from here an' heading out looking for adventure in a new land. Every once in a while we get ninja on missions. Whatever the situation, we gotta have papers fer all of 'em before they let us leave the Point."

"Papers?" Naruto asked, eyes wide, mind playing the scene of them getting to this 'Point' and being told to turn back to Konoha.

"Don't worry 'bout it. Captain keeps some fakes on board fer situations like yours an' the security ain't that tight getting OUT, it's commin' back that you'll wanna make sure you've got you're shit in order."

"So you think the rich guy's smuggling the boy's off the continent?" Naruto asked once his immediate concern was cleared. Despite himself, he was enjoying listening to Fetch talk. He could feel his excitement building as the sailor talked about far off places that he never even dreamed of before this moment.

Fetch shook his head. "That's what I THOUGHT, but… That still don't explain the little girl, an… something just FEELS wrong about the whole situation. Just like something feels weird about YOUR situation."

Naruto grimaced, remember what had brought this conversation on. "What's weird about us?"

"Well, obviously, that little one, with the red hair, isn't really part of your group. Why you're taking him 'long, I don't know, but-"

"Gaara's part of the group." Naruto replied sternly. Adding after a moment, "He just hasn't been with us for long."

Fetch raised his hands, "Hey, I didn't mean anything by it; it's just obvious that he's the odd man out, that's all. That creepy looking brown haired kid, too."

Naruto snorted. "Don't let Ganten hear you say that."

"Ganten… The white haired boy? Yeah, he's why I don't think anything REAL weird about that kid. Obviously there's somethin' going on there. The others, Tenmar, Ganten, the red head kid and the comatose chick, obviously THEY all have a tight bond. Tight as blood, no question. Tighter 'an blood, actually, but that's happens in a family sometimes. Obvious they've been through some hard times. Wouldn't be surprised if they weren't all siblings. "

Naruto listened to Fetch's assessment of his group; the man had picked up a lot during the few hours they were together. It also amused Naruto, the way the man picked up each person's name when Naruto told him and then made it a point to repeat the name in his monologue in order to lock the name in his memory. "What about me?"

Fetch leaned back, pulling out another cigarette. "THAT'S where I'm stuck. Look-wise you could be one of them, the Tenmar group. But the way they act around you is even more awkward than they way they act 'round the little homicidal lookin' kid, Gaara. They obey you, they obviously look up to you and truly care about you, but it's like they don't know how to really BE with you. Like a big brother or father that's been away fer a few years and missed everybody growin' up. But you're not old enough to be the father and you're not their big brother."

Naruto looked away for a moment; Fetch's words stabbing MUCH too close to the truth for his own comfort. Naruto wondered how the man was so certain that he was not their brother.

When Naruto didn't reply, Fetch continued on. "That's why I thought you might be with Tenmar. You know, big brother's lover, takin' care of the family with big brother, sort of a father figure or what not. If you two hadn't been together for too long it might explain the slight awkwardness, but also the affection everyone seems to have for you." Looking at Naruto Fetch sighed. "Don't suppose you're gonna shine any light on it for me?"

Naruto shook his head. "Not today. But you are pretty observant. I'll grant you that."

Fetch grinned, blush creeping over his face, or was that just the shadows playing tricks? "Well, I'll admit, I got a special reason for watching you all…"

"Especially Tenmar." Naruto added, watching as the man's grin widened a bit and there was no longer a question of whether or not he was blushing.

Fetch stood awkwardly for a moment, scratching the back of his head before glancing at the night shift watchers. It was already time for shift change, he'd been talking far longer than he'd expected to. "Ahem. Well, look at the time, I best be heading to bed. Morning comes early on this ship."

"Goodngiht." Naruto watched Fetch leave for a moment, smile on his face. He rather liked him, and if it weren't for Tenmar's own distaste for the man would probably have played matchmaker for the two. /Actually/ Naruto thought, thinking of the amount of time they would have being bored on the ship//I still may…/ After Fetch was gone, Naruto turned his head to smile at the spot Gaara had been occupying since their conversation began. "You might as well come out now. He's gone."

Gaara stepped out of the shadows to look awkwardly at Naruto. There was just enough light from the watchman up the way to make out his features. He was facing the ocean, hair blowing lightly in the wind, eyes closed, face blank. He looked almost beautiful in the pale light. Of course, when he really shone was in the daylight, under the full force of the noon sun.

After a moment Naruto's solemn face dropped and was replaced with his typical happy smile. "You having trouble sleeping, too?"

Gaara nodded, uncertain of what to say. Luckily the blonde seemed to have enough words for the both of them.

"I'm not gonna bite you. Again." Naruto said with a laugh, gesturing to the boy to stand next to him. When Gaara complied, Naruto leaned down, laying his head on the railing with a sigh. Cocking his head up towards Gaara from that position he smiled again, this time wistfully. "I started thinking about home. Konoha, the forests, the people… It's almost enough to make me wanna jump out and swim back." After a moment of studying Gaara closely he added, "It's probably worse for you. Surrounded by people you barely know, heading towards an unknown place where you might or might not be able to get help for your problem."

Gaara shook his head, eyes serious. "I don't care."

Naruto straightened, staring at the boy in surprise. "Eh?"

Gaara returned the gaze without flinching. "You won the fight." After a long moment he added, "My mother died. Giving birth to me."

Naruto stared at the boy for a moment, taking in his expressionless face, then what those words must mean to him. His mother was dead. Naruto had never known a mother either, not while he was growing up in Konoha nor before. But growing up he'd had his brothers to look after him and in Konoha there was the old man and Iruka-sensei, and then later Kakashi-sensei, Sakura and Sasuke. In Gaara's few words Naruto realized that the boy hadn't even had that. He'd suspected as much, but hearing the boy say so in such an emotionless way was too much. The blonde's arm snaked out, and he grabbed Gaara, pulling him into a half-hug against his side. He stood that way for a long moment, allowing his hand to ruffle the boy's short red hair.

Gaara stood in shocked surprise as Naruto gently held him against his side. It was the closest thing to a hug he'd had since… Since he was a child. It felt nice. Naruto was warm, far warmer than a normal person. Probably had something to do with his fox-demon half. Gaara's head twisted up as Naruto began to speak in a low, soft voice.

"I've decided. It's OK. From now on we're your family. The others are OK with it, too, so don't worry about anything." Naruto leaned down as he talked until his face was level with Gaara's. "Just be yourself, we all want you to be happy. We'll wait as long as it takes." After a while of standing like that, the two went below deck to their room, and this time when they closed their eyes, sleep came to them.

:BREAK:

Sasuke lay in on the floor of the cabin, eyes staring wide at the dark ceiling above. Shikamaru, Thomas and Olivia were all asleep, or if not, had evened out their breathing as if to pretend they were sleeping. Sasuke shook his head, wondering why he had such a hard time trusting anybody. The sole exception had been Naruto and, perhaps, to a lesser extent, his children. It wasn't trust for Thomas that led Sasuke to accept the man's offer, but the ease of going along with him.

Today had proven to be disappointing for the dark haired boy. After briefly, VERY briefly, looking at the cabin they'd be staying in for the next month or so (a nice room with two decent sized beds, it also stood as the only cabin above deck besides the captain's cabin on the whole of the ship) Sasuke immediately went below deck to look at the communal living area. Being a body guard was the perfect cover for Sasuke to go poking around. No one tried to stop him as he walked the ship, eyes glancing from side to side as he stomped up and down the ladder leading to the communal area.

The communal area was nowhere near as nice as their cabin. Actually, the communal area was nowhere near as nice as a hole in the ground. There were hundreds of people, many of whom looked like criminals on the run. Sasuke glanced down at a young mother holding two young children in her arms, while glancing around to make sure that no one suspicious approached her. He felt a stab of pity for the woman, it looked like she was traveling alone with her children on the ship and already it was obvious that some of the seedier looking men had moved themselves closer to her sleeping area.

/Who takes care of these people/ Sasuke wondered as he noticed several other young women on the below deck. It didn't appear that there were any others traveling without a husband or father, but that was no guarantee that they would be saved from the dangerous looking men.

Sasuke looked around for a while longer, until he began drawing unwanted attention, before heading up. He couldn't see hear or smell Naruto, and was rather relieved at that fact. Initially he'd been hoping to meet Naruto on the ship, but now he was just gland that the blonde wasn't staying in squalor with these people. As Sasuke made his was above deck he made a mental promise to keep an eye on the young mother. He didn't know what would possess a woman to travel alone on a ship like this, but whatever the case it seemed that she was desperate.

By the time Sasuke had returned to his cabin the land had faded to a small speck on the horizon. He hadn't spent his time idle, though. After checking the communal area he had made a brief stop outside each of the personal cabins, enough to be certain that neither Naruto nor his children were on the ship, at least, not anywhere obvious.

In the cabin, it seemed Shikamaru and Thomas had both fallen asleep, although Sasuke suspected that Shikamaru had spent at least a little time watching their home land disappear in the distance.

With a slight sigh, Sasuke rolled over trying to convince his mind to relax so he could sleep. It would have been easier to do on the bed, but… Technically the bed was big enough to fit both boys, but the idea of sharing with Shikamaru was unappealing. His mind flashed to the memory of Naruto curled into his side together on his bed. That had been before Naruto suddenly grew up, of course. He spent a long moment trying to imagine the adult Naruto curled up next to him, but it was beyond his capabilities.

Sasuke forced his eyes closed, attempting to calm himself, but as soon as they were shut a pair of hauntingly beautiful blue eyes flashed through his mind. With a frustrated sigh, Sasuke finally gave up on the idea of getting any sleep tonight. He rose, walking silently to the door, his head a jumble of thoughts and feelings.

The crisp sea air did wonders for Sasuke as he stepped out of the cabin and onto the deck. He watched with only mild interest as the night crew moved about the deck, silently doing their own thing. In the corner there were six sailors standing around, smoking cigarettes and talking in low whispers to each other. Curious, Sasuke moved closer, face flushing as he caught the tail end of a raunchy joke. One of them glanced up at him and their laughter got louder as they noticed his apparent discomfort.

"Eh, don't mind them!" A loud voice broke out as a large man moved up to him, giving him a sturdy slap on the back as he approached. "They're always like that, that's why they're on the night crew."

Sasuke turned to see a gigantic, hairy mammoth of a man standing behind him. He didn't respond to the man, instead moving away so that he was just barely out of the man's reach.

The man seemed unfazed by Sasuke's unresponsiveness, as he continued on. "They're the scum of the scum, night shift sailors, but this lot 'ere is also some of the best. Quick in a fight and loyal as hound dogs." The large man scrutinized Sasuke for a moment before continuing on. "You're with that rich fellow from this afternoon, the one in the deluxe cabin, eh?" He laughed a bit, "You all've caused somethin' on a stir with my men. Wonderin' why a rich prick like that'd have a little thing like you for a body guard."

"What was that?" Sasuke's responded, voice cold as ice.

The man let out a loud, braying laughter at Sasuke's indignation. "Now, now. Don't mean a thing by it, just pointing out a fact here. You're a runt by any standars, and a man like that, who can fork out that much cash without batting an eye, well… I don't gotta tell YOU that there's somethin' stange goin' on. 'Course, you goin' off an' snoopin' 'round the ship 'asn't helped rumors either. Nope, people gonna be watchin' you all pretty closely over the next few months. Just givin' you a heads up, kid." And with that the man continued on, his merry way, once again throwing his head back and laughing at the look on Sasuke's face.

For a moment Sasuke stood at the railing and glared out at the sea. People were watching them, what did he care? It wasn't like he was doing anything WRONG. Well, except for using Thomas to smuggle himself and Shikamaru to where Naruto would be.

Sasuke's glare softened as Naruto's name went through his head. He wondered if the blonde had gotten to the docks before them and would be a few days ahead of them to wherever the hell this ship stopped to turn around. Of course, more likely was the probability that the idiot got distracted on his way to Port Town and would be arriving a few days later than Sasuke. Maybe up to a month or so later.

Not knowing would make things more complicated. When they got off the ship should Shikamaru and he wait for a while in the town? Should they head directly towards the place in Sasuke's dream? Or maybe they should look for companions, people they could hire to help them across the forest and the desert. As much as Sasuke hated to admit it, he was going to be out of his element trekking across dessert, and who knew what kind of crap they'd have to deal with, having someone that knew the area would be necessary if it would only be the two of them. If only they could find Naruto and the others before they started traveling through the strange new continent! Things would be so much easier that way.

Sasuke looked up from his thoughts when he noticed that the watchmen with the lanterns seemed to be changing shifts. A wave of exhaustion washed over him, one which was only worsened when he remembered exactly how many days he would be stuck on the ship with only his thoughts. And Shikamaru. Feeling suddenly weary from head to toe, Sasuke returned to his cabin. This time he managed to fall asleep as soon as his head hit his pillow.

:BREAK:

Tenmar woke early the next morning, far before any of the others. He glanced over towards Mina, who was still resting peacefully, a fact that worried him increasingly as time went on. She hadn't had a fit since the night of the fight with Gaara, when Rin had attempted to contact her mind. With a heavy heart he went about taking care of her bedding, running a cool cloth across her face, brushing her hair gently and changing her clothing.

Once he was done with that he took a look at the others. A small smile fitted across his face as he noticed Ganten and Rin sleeping in a corner of the room. The white haired boy had Rin pushed up against a wall, with his own body on the boy's other side, so that no one (Uzu in specific) could touch the boy. Ganten was sleeping with his arms around Rin, and Rin seemed to have curled into Ganten during the night, so that his head was buried into Ganten's chest. It was an adorable scene.

Tenmar's eyes flashed next for Moab, thinking that he would take the baby out of the cabin in order to allow the other's some rest from the child's more than likely chance of waking up crying. Thoughts of taking Moab fell away as he noticed the way he'd been sleeping. Uzu had been taking care of Moab last, and apparently had fallen asleep before he'd remembered to put Moab in a make-shift crib. Instead he'd slept with the child laying on his chest. The small baby was laying face down, arms slightly sprawled out on Uzu's chest and underneath him Uzu was laying in a similar position, except face up. Tenmar felt a stab of regret that he did not own a camera. These were the moments that he would love to capture and tease his cute younger brothers about for all eternity.

Moving from Uzu, Tenmar allowed his eyes to search for Gaara. The boy had cornered himself off in the far side of the room when they'd first arrived on ship, but when Tenmar's eyes found the corner they did not find Gaara. Concerned he debated over waking up his father, and moved towards the man with that intention. That was when his eyes caught a tuft of dark red hiding behind Naruto's large body. Naruto had slept facing his children, on his side. On the other side of Naruto, lying back to back with the blonde was Gaara, eyes closed. Tenmar smiled at the peaceful look on Gaara's face. Then he was hit with a disturbing thought. /Why are they sleeping together? It can't be that Father has developed… an interest in that boy/

The thought disturbed Tenmar more and more as he thought about it, until he decided to leave the room and head above deck. He wasn't sure if it was the age difference or the fact that he KNEW his father had feelings still for Sasuke that bothered him about the idea of Naruto being with Gaara.

There were very few people above deck, and Tenmar realized just how early he'd woken up. The sun wasn't even up yet, although it was starting peek over the edge of the ocean towards them. With a sigh he moved towards the very east most point of the ship, letting the breeze and warmth of the few rays of sun comfort his mind. It wasn't his business what his father did, and just because they were sleeping next to each other didn't mean that they were together in any way… right?

As he stood there, Tenmar felt his hair whipping around his face. He really needed to find a replacement string for the one he'd broke the day before. He probably looked like a woman in this light, it was embarrassing.

Tenmar felt his face flush as he heard the sound of a little girl's voice, calling out to her father, "Look daddy, it's a beautiful angle!" Turning he found himself face to face with a young father holding onto his small daughter as she pointed at him.

"Aha," Tenmar laughed weakly, "N-no, I'm so-"

"Yes, 'Livia, he's certainly is." The man replied, grinning proudly at his daughter. He then glanced at Tenmar, reaching out his hand. "Hi. I'm Thomas, and this is my daughter Olivia." He shook Tenmar's hand, noticing the blush across the blonde's face. "Sorry if we embarrassed you, she's just a very observant little girl." Thomas let go of Tenmar's hand, placing Olivia on the ground.

Tenmar's blush deepened as the little girl immediately grabbed onto his hand and smiled up at him. "What's your name, mister angle?"

"I-my name's Tenmar…" He replied, still feeling slightly shocked by the whole situation. There was something familiar about Thomas that he couldn't quite pinpoint. It couldn't be that he'd met them before, he would have remembered meeting someone like Thomas. He would have been a striking man; standing reasonable tall, with soft brown hair that seemed to fall just right around his face, he was strong looking, but and he had probing almost yellow green eyes. But all of that was thrown off by the almost constant absent-minded look across his face. /It's his smell…/ Tenmar realized as Thomas moved closer to him, glancing across the ocean. /He seems familiar because he smells just a bit like home - Sasuke's house./

Thomas smiled as he moved next to Tenmar. "It's a rare pleasure to meet you, Tenmar." And the way he said it, Tenmar felt that he really meant it. "Would you like to join my daughter and I for breakfast?"

Tenmar looked down at the little girl whose face shone eagerly up at him and then to Thomas, whose face was almost identical to his daughter's. He shrugged, giving in. "Sure, why not?"

A moment later Fetch rounded the corner. He had spied Tenmar heading towards the east-most point of the ship earlier, but had been busy with his work at the time. Now that he was done, he was eager to seen Tenmar's morning face, glowing in the sun rise. "Oi, Princess-" His words trailed off as he noticed Tenmar being led by the rich man from last night towards the stairs leading down – most likely headed towards the meal hall.

Thomas turned at the sound of the man's voice, noticing Tenmar stiffen as the words reached his ears. He grinned at the sailor he recognized from the night before, waving at the man slightly as he continued towards the stairs. As he dropped the wave he allowed his hand to land on Tenmar's shoulder. When Tenmar smiled questioningly at him he replied, "Isn't it exciting being on a ship like this?"

"It is a very different experience." Tenmar replied as he ducked his head into the door way over the stairs.

Thomas shot one last look at the sailor before ducking his own head under the doorway, smiling at the anger displayed clearly across his face.

End Chapter 10

Ahem, well I know some of you are gonna be pissed that they STILL didn't meet this chapter, but you see… I have a specific set of plans that NEED to happen before I can let them meet, you know? So please be patient for a chapter or (at the MOST) two more, ok?

As a side note, just to explain why they didn't smell or hear each other, keep in mind that 1) the ship is HUGE 2) it's moving, and Sasuke was down wind and to the left of Naruto and Gaara and 3) he's not EXPECTING to find Sasuke and vice versa (because Sasuke DID check all the cabins) so they're not picking up on the small amount of smell/sound that MAY reach them as a result… Anyway, if you guys want I'll attempt to draw a crude map of the ship. Send me requests if you want me to, ok?

-PK